Saturday, July 27, 2013

About Those Facebook Memes

When I first got on Facebook, my friends posted statuses about what they were doing or thinking.  Gradually, I've watched those personal statuses mostly disappear and be replaced by memes.  I am guilty of this as well.  Who wants to write when you can share a professional-looking graphic with a pithy saying already in place?  You can brighten someone's day or make them re-think a serious issue with just a click of the keyboard.  And there are wonderful Catholic ones too, making it so easy to share the faith.

My fear, though, is that the use of memes further diminishes our ability to form and express our own thoughts, just like with store-bought greeting cards.  Worse, I've realized that memes keep my thoughts within certain channels.  What would I be thinking if there were not these pre-formed snippets of ideas confronting me?  It's not that I think Facebook is some fabulous medium for exchanging meaningful ideas.  I just have noticed the changes and find them regrettable.

That's why I have put myself on a meme fast.  I am only posting things I write myself.  It's a little thing, but I saw a meme yesterday with a picture of Gandalf and a message about doing little things with love and kindness to change the world.


See, I told you I was worried about memes channeling my thoughts!


2 comments:

Maid Emmaline said...

Starting your meme fast by posting a meme on your blog for the first time? Methinks this isn't starting off so well.

Wendy Haught said...

My blog doesn't count! It's just on Facebook that I am on a meme fast. :D